In 2018, we're quickly learning that food isn't for the faint of heart. If you're not slurping down liquefied mushroom coffee or popping maca root in your morning smoothie, then you're probably treating your BFF to a bubble waffle or trawling the web for some edible pansies to serve at a dinner party.
With so many food and health trends to keep on top of, the simple pleasure of a Saturday fry up feels basically dead in the water.
But while your gut-bacteria conscious diet might be life-lengthening, and the edible petals might win you a few cool points, there's an element of real fun missing from many modern dining experiences.
Enter Mam Sham, the young female foodie duo hoping to put the LOLs back in your lunch.
Who Are They?
East London pals Maria K-Georgiou, 27, and Rhiannon Butler, 26, are appropriate front women. They're the new babes of banqueting, young vixens of victuals and they bring a fresh kind of ironic brassiness and frequent female focus to the dining experience.
They regularly organise a big knees up dinners, during which guests can expect to be entertained unremittingly, while chowing down on delicious foods prepared by a range of guest chefs.
In their own words: 'We're basically a couple of shambolic gals. Just two honest hard working mams putting on wonderfully silly productions.'
What Do They do?
Ostensibly, Mam Sham is another 'immersive dining' concept, but with none of the formality or expense of some central-London based 'immersive' restaurants and not a whiff of the pretentious 'aaaaart' of others.
Think themed, hearty foods, free flowing booze, performances that range from stand-up comedy to drag, all couched in a relaxed-but-raucous supper club vibe.
And at the core of it all remains one key tenet: to make sure their guests have fun. And I don't mean a little chortle over your tiramisu. I mean proper snort laughing.
To give you a clue, at a recent event, after the main course - a delicious, juicy roast duck with an endless assortment of carby accompaniments - was finished and cleared, a music act took to the stage to sing a ludicrous medley about vaginas. Following which, dessert turned out to be a sweet taco filled with caramel sauce and edible glitter. You get the reference, I'm sure.
As many a brilliant exploit begins, Mam Sham events are currently the subject of excited underground murmurings, but gradually, more and more people are cottoning on, as tales of butt-clenchingly naughty jokes, sassy servers and genuinely delicious food do the rounds.
As the girls themselves say: Our tag line is 'good grub + lols', and that's the basics of what we serve up. Whilst being weird and wonderful, we have a huge emphasis on quality and inclusivity. We want our guests to leave feeling that they've had more fun, eating, laughing and drinking than they've had for a long time. Everything about our events are bold but the atmosphere brings the shyest out of their comfort zone, by the end of the night guests are personally thanking us for making them feel so included and relaxed and giving them a great experience. What more can ya want!'
Where Can You Catch Them Next?
On April 12th, 2018, they'll be hosting event called 'Girl On Girl' at Oval Space in London's Cambridge Heath. The narrative for this production will be a bold celebration of women - from female chefs, through to girl DJs and performers - with the proceeds going to the Refugee Women's Centre.
Interested? You can get all the info and buy your tickets HERE.
Natasha Bird is the Former Executive Editor (Digital) of ELLE.
